With the recent trend toward smaller and higher-performance electronic products, many electronic components are placed on PCBs, and consequently many signals are input and output in parallel. For the electrical contact with devices, flexible flat cables (FFC) and flexible printed circuits (FPC) are widely used, in which a plurality of electrical wires are brought together as a single cable.
The flexible cable connectors of the prior art comprised a housing, fixed to the PCB and molded from plastic; a terminal formed as a plurality of termini inserted into the housing from the back of the housing and fixed in place; and an actuator that fixes the flexible cable inserted into the front of the housing in place in the housing. Examples of prior art include Republic of Korea Registered Patent Gazette No. 10-1170428 (issued 2012 Aug. 7) and Republic of Korea Registered Patent Gazette No. 10-1310138 (issued 2013 Sep. 23).
The flexible cable connectors of the prior art, having this configuration, are designed so as to establish a connection between the flexible cable and the PCB mediated by the termini: the flexible cable is first inserted into the housing with the actuator in its open state, and then the flexible cable is put in contact with the termini when the actuator is closed. The housing is fixed to the PCB by means of a fitting nail.
In the case of a flexible cable connector of the prior art having the above-described configuration, the signal transmission architecture and overall connector architecture are complex, because the flexible cable is contacted to the PCB by the medium of the termini, and the housing is fixed to the PCB by a separate fitting nail. As a result, it is difficult to reduce product manufacturing costs and miniaturize products.